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MB Inspect Tool

Version:

Current

Last modified: June 04, 2020

The MB Inspect tool takes as input a rules or itemsets output of the MB Rules tool, and provides a listing and analysis of those rules that can be filtered on several criteria in order to reduce the number or returned rules or itemsets to a manageable number.

Input

Configure the Tool

MB Inspect - Filter Configuration Tab

Use the MB Inspect - Filter Configuration tab to set the parameters for your filter.

Minimum support level:Support is the proportion of transactions that contain the items in the itemset or association rule. This option sets the minimum required support level to be included in an inspection. The lower this value, the more rules or itemsets that will meet the criteria, but they will represent increasingly more uncommon combinations of items. A value of 0 "turns-off" this filter.

Maximum support level: This option sets the upper bound of support for rules or itemsets that will be inspected. One reason to set an upper bound is that high levels of support might represent obvious and uninteresting rules or items sets that are frequently purchased (for example, milk and bread in a supermarket). A value of 0 "turns-off" this filter.

Minimum confidence level for association rules: Confidence is the proportion of transactions where the RHS (right-hand side) items of an association rule are in the transactions that also contain the LHS (left-hand side) items of that rule. In other words, it is a measure of the probability that the RHS items will be in the transaction when the LHS items are also in the transaction. This option sets the minimum required confidence level to be included in an inspection. The lower this value, the more rules or itemsets that will meet the criteria, but they will represent rules where the proportion of times the LHS items occur in transactions that contain the RHS items. A value of 0 "turns-off" this filter, which is only applicable for association rules.

Maximum confidence level for association rules: This option sets the upper bound of confidence for rules or itemsets that will be inspected. One reason to set an upper bound is that high levels of confidence may represent obvious and uninteresting rules or items sets (for example, hot dogs and hot dog buns in a supermarket). A value of 0 "turns-off" this filter, which is only applicable for association rules.

Minimum lift level for assoc. rules: Lift is the proportion of transactions that contain the RHS and LHS items relative to the proportion of time we would expect this to occur if the items were independent (unrelated) to one another. If the lift measure is one, then the RHS and LHS items as often in transaction as they are expected to when the items have no relationship to one another. If the measure is less than one, then they occur less frequently together than would be expected if they were unrelated to one another (they "repulse" one another). If the measure is greater than one, then the LHS and RHS items occur together more often then is expected by random chance. In general, we are interested in association rules that have a lift substantially greater than one. However, as this minimum lift criteria increases, we have fewer returned rules. A value of 0 "turns-off" this filter, which is only applicable for association rules.

Maximum lift level for assoc. rules: This option sets the upper bound of lift for rules or itemsets that will be inspected. One reason to set an upper bound is that high levels of lift may represent obvious and uninteresting rules or items sets (for example, hot dogs and hot dog buns in a supermarket). A value of 0 "turns-off" this filter, which is only applicable for association rules.

Sort association rules by: This option causes the returned association rules to be sorted by the user's choice of support, confidence, or lift values, which can assist in interpreting the rules.

Graphic Options Tab

Use the Graphics Options tab to set the controls for the graphical output.